on the week's top stories. syria's embattled president. is an. international. group. the rich to the rescue. for the wealthy part of the deal.

with. this is the weekly with me. now as the syrian conflict so renewed violence in the first week of the new year it also led to more casualties among journalists covering the crisis a syrian a correspondent for pro-government media is understood to have died from wounds in a rebel gun attack as he returned home from work and the arabic news crew and

several international reporters have come under insurgent sniper fire just outside the capital one of our colleagues to come out suck out was injured while trying to escape the shooting at this here is his account of what happened. when we arrived at the damascus suburb early in the morning to report on the syrian army operation we were moving from street to street and when we reached the dock my colleagues and i got caught in crossfire we tried to escape running one after another fearing that armed rebels would notice us a syrian army soldier accompanied us the entire time he constantly kept his on the situation and helped us to escape the gunfire the rebels were firing on us my colleagues and i were wearing bulletproof vests with the word press on them the firing was very intense and it was difficult to find shelter i ran and fell down i hurt my arms but the syrian army doctors gave me first aid on the scene so i could continue to do my job there were many other correspondents there with me including

iranians and syrians one of the syrian cameraman was also slightly wounded like me . meanwhile dozens of people were killed in a series of attacks on damascus petrol stations this week opposition forces accused the government of a deadly bombing on wednesday although authorities blamed rebels for a terrorist attack on thursday middle east expert pepe escobar believes a willingness to end the syrian conflict must also come from outside the country. very sad to see to everybody all over the world that the top geopolitical threat of two thousand and thirteen is going to be the political tragedy of two thousand and eleven the rape of syria the only possibility would be that the opposition. in a syrian way this sides not to listen to the saudis the turks their americans the brits and the french. government and they will work out

a transitional government or at least the transitional period leading to free and fair elections is this going to happen not likely. and i president assad has outlined a political solution to the syrian conflict in a rare address to the nation he proposed a reconciliation conference aimed at forming a constitution holding free elections with a new government and an. he said he will not only hold talks with quote those who have not betrayed syria he said the first stage of the syrian solution should be the end of funding of rebel groups from abroad. also that any government makes will come through a referendum not a government decision from president assad speech we talk live to our correspondent in the region in just. a rock obama has given the green light to a law increasing taxes on wealthy americans and a move to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff it follows months of political bickering

among us lawmakers right up until the january first deadline and no deal option could have meant billions of dollars of tax hikes and spending cuts which were due to automatically come into effect artie's economics expert max kaiser says that although an immediate crisis has been avoided the main underlying problems remain result. the fiscal cliff is just more theater bank. trying to distract people from the underlying root catastrophe that is a bunch of bankers who are manipulating the system day in and day out the strong economy this fiscal cliff is just more more theater and it doesn't really focus on the true underlying problems and we're going to see more of this going forward in two thousand and thirteen anything to the tension from the mob what they're pitchforks and torches coming after these people they want to just delay that day of reckoning for as many months as they can but that day's reckoning twenty eight

it's. well it's more on the economic outlook for twenty thirty and you can watch the kaiser report all of his programs available for you just a click away. it's good to have you with us here on out to you today it has been revealed that the f.b.i. knew of a plot to assassinate occupy wall street leaders did not alert them to the potential danger to the bureau was instead spying on members of the movement branding them as criminals and domestic terrorists so the details are in a poor guy. well it's not clear yet why the f.b.i. would neglect to tell activists there was a potential assassination plot surrounding them what we do know is that new documents obtained by the partnership for the civil justice fund a u.s.

human human and civil rights advocacy organization have revealed that the u.s. the f.b.i. the department of homeland security the u.s. military and private corporations all cooperated together to monitor and investigate opic occupy wall street protesters as quote domestic terrorists and quote criminals now the more shocking revelation the headline of this story is that reportedly buried deep within the government. mentions of a plan to use snipers to assassinate occupy protesters and the movements leaders in various cities throughout the country these alleged plans were supposed to be taking place in the fall of two thousand and eleven now the names of the groups or individuals involved in the alleged plot are redacted from the f.b.i. documents but what critics say is clear is that the f.b.i. never alerted any one of the potential any of the potential victims that their lives could possibly be in danger or that there's any threat surrounding them the partnership for civil justice fund received the f.b.i.

documents on december twenty second so this is fairly new information and this was after they filed a request under the freedom of information after now many civil rights attorneys previously have accused the f.b.i. of functioning as a de facto intelligence arm for u.s. corporations during the occupy wall street movement and especially as it grew bigger however some critics say they never ever suspected that the f.b.i. would neglect to tell occupy protesters u.s. citizens about an assassination plot surrounding them. of course. including. getting away with.

being. french activists are deployed here has mass where the russian president vladimir putin and has received his brand new russian passport so now it's official is that separate

you has become a russian citizen now they're meeting to place and so much you wear different you is on a personal trip before that he remembers his french citizenship and move to belgium where we pointedly he has some real estate this news comes as french president francois juan is trying to push forward a law that will see french citizens who earn more than one million euro piece seventy five percent of their earnings to traps this meanwhile in other french legendary movie i can brigitte bardot is also think of following the footsteps of gerard depardieu about the reason behind her move is completely different now she's also a veteran anymore rights campaigner and she has threatened to apply for russian citizenship if french authorities you for nice pair off the sick elephants at a zoo in your home. just

a ladder in the program here. backtracking on promises human rights groups like file over america's new defense act that all suspects to be detained indefinitely and keep the one ton of my bay prison camp. plus venezuela's full time leader go chavez may be too ill off the cancer surgery to attend his own inauguration and that as the opposition demands a new election if indeed he doesn't show up more on this side of the story is off to the shore. line. soon which brightened if you need a song from the finest impression.

he screams don't talk don't come. wealthy british style sign it's time to. market why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mikes concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report. you're watching the top. as of the week here on arts he and the police in bahrain have

again violently suppressed an anti-government demonstration but the unrest in the kingdom approaching now the two year mark of protesters are calling for a transition to a democratically elected government and better rights for the country's shia majority as my daughter will show from the european bahraini organization for human rights claims that security forces from abroad a stoking the violence by firing tear gas into the homes of unarmed civilians. security forces who are working for the ministry of interior and my head are practicing and all to by and then i love to violation of human rights when confronting when pro-democracy protests and behaving a lot of process took place and many different villages and areas around behaving and all of them all of them got a. crack they were a crackdown by that by the security forces and by hey who are most to be and not by me and they are working. and them and so and period and they they where going

from different countries foreign countries like pakistan and jordan and syria and the village where i live and it was tear gas as to city by security forces and i could see if the curative force of running down the street by my house and shooting grams in the inside the house that is the movement was compete he said but after witnessing the west that was tyranny and position to or that this situation in bahrain or there have been too short and bahrain has unlike to what the what they are claiming like they are in karjat human rights in different countries arab countries but when it comes to buying they use double standard so the process there is here and by having a look they are those radical processors they are the minority and not the majority but they are using such methods to prevent them violent security forces from

entering their religion and attacking it on armed civilians and children like we witnessed and a big deal and also of the four year old child being affected by security forces with tear gas canisters. this is a. this week a lot of stumped allowing the u.s. military to detain terrorist suspects indefinitely including americans without charge or trial the national defense authorization act it also extends the restrictions on transferring detainees out of guantanamo for another year a veteran congressman dennis kucinich thinks that of the move is ultimately part of a pattern that undermines democracy right now we're much more of a garrison and garrison plus. a powerful military which keeps asserting itself globally and it doesn't make america any safer and frankly doesn't make the world safer we're spending upwards of six hundred billion dollars for an expanded pentagon presence for more war in afghanistan and for

proliferation of war in in yemen and somalia and other places we have a lot of problems here at home that we're not taking care of we have massive unemployment people are losing their homes people are losing their retirement security and i continue to say that we have to start emphasizing taking care of things here at home instead of developing a bigger footprint around the world as far as our military presence. thanks for joining us here on our top story now as we were reporting just a bit syria's president bashar al assad has outlined a political solution to the country's bitter conflict he made his proposals in a rare public address to the nation we get the latest now across live to watch he's correspondent in the region i'd like to get a chef joins us here alexia good to see you thanks for coming on so quickly what exactly has the syrian leader suggested to end the need to yearlong worth of violence. well there has certainly been rather interesting quotes coming from the

syrian president he in fact called to hold an international reconciliation conference to end the violence and the military conflict which is going on has been going on for almost two years now in syria and this initiative according to assad will lead to a national wide referendum and fair election which is the only way according to the syrian president that the political landscape in this country can be changed but this initiative can only be possible according to assad if the western countries and some regional countries as he put it stop investing into terrorist groups which are fighting to overthrow his his regime now definitely those quotes have been very interesting from assad he's been again very much of defying tilman saying that the i quote that the only way that syria will listen to to the outside world is through an advice not through at dictating so. it's interesting to see whether the

opposition whether the rebels which have been fighting the pro-government supporters for those two years now will listen to this kind of initiative experts are already speculating whether they would be willing to accept this offer but definitely this is something new coming from assad he will be willing to see a fair election and a referendum held in his country which could eventually put paid to the military conflict which killed more than sixty thousand people already here certainly here at archie we were keeping a very close watch on assad's speech and one point i found interesting was he said that he said any political transition in syria is a domestic issue and should be treated as such any external political influences are unsolicited and unnecessary certainly getting a roaring reception from the crowd watching your speech there r t s s q thank you. for now event as well as a president chavez who is currently battling cancer may be too ill to attend his

own swearing in ceremony on thursday his political rivals and demanding a new election if he doesn't show up to be inaugurated for his fourth term of office a geo political analyst eric draitser believes the opposition is basically taking advantage of the situation to undermine the government what is important is the fact that the opposition is using this as a political mechanism by which they can try to deal with demise the government in venezuela remember that in two thousand and two when the united states and spain and other powers around the world collaborated in conspired to oust chavez in an illegal coup we saw what the significance of chavez was that he had a base of support on the streets in that country that could not be shaken by an international force and so what they're attempting to do is to use his health situation to break apart that base of support and to convince people that chavez is unable to serve the the constitution in venezuela allows for wiggle room here it

does not say that just because he can't be at the inauguration at that given moment that there has to be new elections that is what the opposition is trying to create something they're not explicit they're trying to make it explicit the constitution it says that it can be delayed there are alternative arrangements that can be made the swearing in can take place in a different location and also it says that the new elections can only be called if and only if the elected president permanently unable to serve is no indication the child there won't cover from where he is now so to say that he's permanently incapacitated is not one hundred percent true. all right there we go some other global news for you in brief and a standoff between police and a gunman in the u.s. state of colorado which claimed the lives of three people who were being held hostage it's believed the three were killed by the armed man before the barricaded house was stormed and the gunman was also killed while one captive did manage to

escape it happened in the town. which last year saw twelve people killed and dozens injured in a cinema shooting during a movie premiere. a pakistani soldier has been killed and another injured during a raid by india's military into the part of kashmir administered by pakistan india says its troops were simply acting in a retaliation to shelling that had destroyed a home reports of exchanges of gunfire continuing in the disputed region of kashmir has been a source of dispute between pakistan and india for decades but a cease fire was put in place back in two thousand and three. around a hundred british loyalists in the northern irish capital belfast have attacked police officers who retaliated with water cannons authorities are also investigating reports of shots fired during the clash of the previous night saw nine officers injured in several riots that broke out across the city or loyalist

anger was sparked by a move to end a century old tradition of flying the british union flag over city hall permanently throughout the year. well it's been a year a week of new year celebrations around the globe fireworks crowds greeting twenty thirteen there were some mixed emotions regarding the year that's passed some sad to see it end but many more hopeful of a better future for the next year. look at the world that could have been. twenty twelve was certainly full of disappointing headlines hope fueled by the arab spring turned into the turmoil of the arab autumn the war in syria claimed countless lives and a fiscal crisis all the european union torn apart at its very seams and the problems facing our world today certainly don't offer themselves up to an easy fix what if things had turned out differently what if opportunities were actually seized upon instead of missed well here's our look at the twenty twelve headlines

that could have been. diplomacy succeeds in syria and ending bloody conflict. instead this was the image of syria the world saw increasingly violent clashes between government forces and the opposition had claimed more than forty thousand lives efforts to negotiate a diplomatic solution fell flat as divisions ripped apart both the. beauty hundreds of thousands of. students where many have found.

israel's anti-missile shield repelled most attacks on its territory but a strike claimed the lives of more than one hundred sixty palestinians many of them civilians just might harsh condemnation from many in the international community the war and israel's subsequent decision to construct three thousand new settlements effectively slammed the door shut to any prospect of peace go people power moment you step aside and let democracy. get lost get most notorious one time the most prison permanently shot. euro zone cuts the cuts and lifts austerity. but the news of austerity only tightened as deep public sector cuts brought thousands of angry demonstrators to the streets of greece spain italy and portugal . the worst economic crisis of a generation has battered the european union's very foundations exacerbating

tensions between member states but some regions now desperately wanting out i grew up in a europe that was divided from east to west but i'm now living in a europe that is divided from old to self never at any point in the history of this union has there been more discord of rank that we cover to go corporate cash band for the campaign coffers as part of the us political please. know we here for u.k. british quit the european union. we can. get ecuador's london embassy where he's been granted asylum he continues to fight extradition to sweden over alleged sex crimes charges that he says are politically motivated and tied to his work in leaking international government secrets. the power of people speaking up and resisting together terrifies corrupt

democratic power so much so that onery people here in the west and the enemy of governments an enemy to be watched and enemy to be controlled and to be impoverished true democracy is not the white house true democracy is not. true democracy is the resistance of people with the truth against law from right here in london every day ordinary people teach us that democracy is free speech and just sense. from heretics to hero american whistleblower bradley manning finally free. droning on no more nations agree to end iraq of remote controlled war. egypt's arab spring sees democracy defeat hardline islamist. the reality on the ground was anything but egyptian president mohamed morsi is foul like power grab unleashed fury and frenzied street

battles and a fast track to constitutional overhaul referendum left a bitter opposition eager for change for them two thousand and twelve saw the arab spring transformed into an egyptian nightmare had the revolution to get rid of a tyrant to dictators. in in order to that we made elections and the revolution and elections to choose someone to the present us it turned out that this guy is also a tyrant himself and he has had lines may have been the stuff of imagination but that's the of twenty thirteen can bring any of them to life we seek out r.t. moscow. and i still on the way here not so you know we take you to a very special that russian orthodox village built by a priest for his adopted children all seventeen of them.

you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear sees some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. of.

the world to the. science technology innovation hall believes developments from around russia we've got the future covered. something. lies beneath. thousands of meters of ice under a rock. that is a loser for many. but dangerous even to those who keep it at a distance.